Ahmad Tavakkoli

Ahmad Tavakkoli (Persian: احمد توکلی; born 5 March^{[citation needed]} 1951) is an Iranian conservative and principlist politician, journalist. He is currently member of the Expediency Discernment Council.^[5] Also he is currently managing-director of Alef news website^[6] and founder of the corruption watchdog, non-governmental organization Justice and Transparency Watch.^[7]

Ahmad Tavakkoli
Member of Expediency Discernment Council
Incumbent
Assumed office 14 August 2017
Appointed by	Ali Khamenei
Chairman	Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi Sadeq Larijani
President of the Majlis Research Center
In office 1 July 2004 – 1 July 2012
Preceded by	Mohammad Reza Khatami
Succeeded by	Kazem Jalali
Minister of Labour
In office 2 November 1981 – 2 August 1983
President	Ali Khamenei
Prime Minister	Mir-Hossein Mousavi
Preceded by	Mohammad Mir-Mohammad Sadeqi
Succeeded by	Abolqasem Sarhadizadeh
Member of the Parliament of Iran
In office 28 May 2004 – 28 May 2016
Constituency	Tehran, Rey, Shemiranat and Eslamshahr
Majority	776,979
In office 28 May 1980 – 12 November 1981
Constituency	Behshahr
Majority	28,850
Personal details
Born	(1951-03-05) March 5, 1951 (age 73)[citation needed] Behshahr, Iran
Political party	Front of Transformationalist Principlists[1]
Other political affiliations	Islamic Republican Party Mojahedin of the Islamic Revolution Organization[2]
Relatives	Mohammad Javad Larijani (cousin) [3] Fazel Larijani (cousin)[3] Ali Larijani (cousin)[3] Sadeq Larijani (cousin)[3] Bagher Larijani (cousin)[3] Sadegh Zibakalam (co-fathers-in-law)[4]
Residence(s)	Tehran, Iran
Alma mater	University of Nottingham
Signature

Tavakkoli is the former representative of Tehran, Rey, Shemiranat and Eslamshahr electoral district in the parliament and the director of Majlis Research Center.

Career

Tavakkoli was the minister of labour under Mir-Hossein Mousavi, a parliament representative from Behshahr, and a presidential candidate in two of the presidential elections in Iran (running against Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani and Mohammad Khatami).^[8]

Tavakkoli temporarily left politics after the leftists oppositions forced him out of the ministry of labour. He founded Resalat, a conservative newspaper, and later left Iran to study economics in the UK, where he received his PhD.

Views and personal life

Tavakkoli is a critic of a capitalist economy, and backs the government's role in controlling the economy. He is a cousin of the Larijani brothers, including Ali Larijani and Mohammad Javad Larijani.

Tavakkoli was also a fierce critic of President Ahmadinejad.^[9] On 2 March 2011, the PBS' Tehran Bureau reported that Tavakkoli criticized the then President for mentioning only Iran and not Islam in recent speeches.^[10]

Electoral history

Year	Election	Votes	%	Rank	Notes
1980[a]	Parliament	28,850	50.2	1st	Won[11]
1993	President	3,972,201	24.3	2nd	Lost
2000[b]	Parliament	382,867	13.06	51st	Lost[12]
2001	President	4,393,544	15.6	2nd	Lost
2004[b]	Parliament	776,979	39.40	2nd	Won[13]
2008[b]	Parliament	568,459	32.65	4th	Won[14]
2012[b]	Parliament Round 1	481,012	22.69	7th	Went to Round 2[15]
	Parliament Round 2	404,595	35.91	3rd	Won[16]
2016[b]	Parliament	862,723	26.56	34th	Lost[17]

1. Behshahr
2. Tehran, Rey, Shemiranat and Eslamshahr

References

1. "نگاهی به شکل گیری احزاب مجلس ساخته در ایران". Khabar Online. 20 November 2008. Retrieved March 10, 2015.
2. "Nepotism & the Larijani Dynasty". Tehran Bureau. August 20, 2009. Retrieved February 20, 2015.
3. Marsha B. Cohen (May 2013). "The Brothers Larijani: A sphere of power". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 21 September 2016.
4. Denise Hassanzade Ajiri (February 2016). "An introduction to Iran's parliamentary candidates". The Guardian. Retrieved 21 September 2016.
5. "تغییرات مجمع تشخیص؛ ریاست هاشمی شاهرودی و عضویت رئیسی و قالیباف". 2017-08-14. Retrieved 2019-04-04.
6. "Three successful anti-terror operations carried out". Iran. 6 June 2015. Retrieved 21 September 2016.
7. "Oil contracts 'generally only profiting foreigners'". Mehr News Agency. 20 February 2016. Retrieved 21 September 2016.
8. Muir, Jim (1 June 2001). "Iran election: People and policies". BBC. Tehran. Retrieved 28 June 2013.
9. Sohrabi, Naghmeh (July 2011). "The Power Struggle in Iran: A Centrist Comeback?" (PDF). Middle East Brief (53).
10. "Iran gets some diplomatic heat over opposition leader arrests". Press Roundup 3 February 2011. Archived from the original on 9 March 2011. Retrieved 3 March 2011.
11. "Getting to Know the Representatives in the Majles" (PDF), Iranian Parliament, The Iran Social Science Data Portal, p. 39
12. آگهی نتیجه انتخابات ششمین دوره مجلس شورای اسلامی در حوزه انتخابیه تهران، ری، شمیرانات و اسلامشهر (in Persian), archived from the original on 9 June 2011
13. "آراء نهايي انتخابات مجلس هفتم در حوزه تهران اعلام شد از مجموع 3438 صندوق 1971748 برگ راي به دست آمد", Iranian Students' News Agency (in Persian), 27 February 2004, retrieved 10 February 2016
14. "نتيجه قطعي انتخابات تهران اعلام شد", Fars News Agency (in Persian), 17 March 2008, archived from the original on 4 March 2016, retrieved 10 February 2016
15. "۵۲۷ کاندیدای تهران در انتخابات ۱۲ اسفند چقدر رای آوردند؟", Khabaronline (in Persian), 18 March 2012, retrieved 10 February 2016
16. نتایج نهایی و رسمی مرحله دوم انتخابات تهران + گرایش سیاسی. Asr Iran (in Persian). 16 May 2012. 212705. Retrieved 8 June 2015.
17. "ریز آمار نتایج 1021 کاندیدای نمایندگی مجلس در تهران + فیلم مرور روز انتخابات", Iranian Students' News Agency (in Persian), 27 February 2016, retrieved 27 February 2016

External links

Academic offices
Preceded by Mohammad Reza Khatami	President of the Majlis Research Center 2004–2012	Succeeded by Kazem Jalali